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Gurira was born in Grinnell, Iowa to Josephine Gurira, a university librarian mother, and Roger Gurira, a chemistry professor father.[1][2] Gurira lived in Grinnell until December 1983, when at age five she and her family moved back to Harare, Zimbabwe after the country had gained independence.[3]

Gurira sees her parents as part of a generation of Africans "that first came here in the ’60s, like my parents. Like Barack Obama’s father, who came here in the ’60s from Kenya, from Zimbabwe, from those countries that were still in colonization."[4] "But I have parents who were here from the ’60s to the ’80s, and my entire life I grew up with a picture of Martin Luther King on the mantelpiece [laughter] that he signed for my mother in Zimbabwe."[4]

Her childhood was unique, Guirara said, because "I was just in a home where my father was a very affirming man. He was an academic. He wanted his children to think for themselves, speak for themselves, and make their own decisions. He just wanted to facilitate that, so he has three pretty strong-spoken daughters as we’ve grown up."[4]

On her return to Zimbabwe during the early Robert Mugabe years, Gurira said, "I was in a very multi-racial, multi-cultural schooling system. I had a really delightful childhood. I was a jock. I became a very competitive swimmer in Zimbabwe. I was a swimmer, a tennis player, a hockey player. Then, when I was 13, I joined a Children's Performing Arts workshop in Zimbabwe."[5][6]

After high school Gurira returned to the United States to study at Macalester College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology.[2] On her experience at that school: "It's Macalester College, where Kofi Annan went. A lot of Africans come there; a lot of Caribbeans come there. There’s African Americans there as well. There’s a very interesting connection I feel to everybody, because of course I grew up on the continent, so I totally have a connection to that experience."[4] On the choice of studying psychology: "I was really looking at race, population, gender and how we psychologically function in a way that affects our societal outcomes around those issues."[5]

Gurira said that the original impetus behind writing plays was that she was "looking for things to perform. I was looking for monologues to audition with. I was looking for things like that, and I just couldn’t find stuff that told the stories that I thought were fascinating to tell."[4] She said that she "fell in love with a lot of Western playwrights. I love Chekov, of course love Shakespeare, love Ibsen, love Shaw, and there were also times I was like, 'But there’s an African version of these types of stories.' I could see how Chekov must have loved his people and just was like sitting there and watching them and going, 'Oh my God, my people, my people. I got to write about these people.' .... So it really just propelled me to really feel like I need to start writing stories. Initially, it was just like I need something to perform that actually kind of speaks to my strengths and speaks to women I know of and stories I think are important to tell. Then it became something bigger than that. It became – there’s an absence of, there’s a dearth of stories that come from the complex – a lot of my plays are about Africans that come from that complex African portrayal and experience and mind-set. I think that there’s something so interesting to say and to see about us, and so I just wanted it to be seen and heard. I just thought, why not see these stories as much as we see everybody else’s?"[4]

On how psychology influences her work: "I wanted to bring some voice to issues that concerned me. I couldn't see how the dramatic arts were going to make a huge change. But then I went to South Africa and met all these artists who had done things to affect change through their art during apartheid. I got totally convicted that what I needed to do what was tell African women's stories – the unheard voices."[5]

In March 2012, it was announced that she would join the cast of AMC's drama series The Walking Dead in the third season as Michonne.[10][11] Her casting in the show was announced live on TV.[12] Gurira knew how to use swords from her time at Yale, but she had to learn how to ride horses for The Walking Dead, which she liked because it was a physical challenge.[13] The same year, she received the Whiting Writers' Award.

In 2013, Gurira played a lead role in director Andrew Dosunmu's independent drama film Mother of George, which premiered at 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Gurira received critical acclaim for her performance in the movie of a Nigerian woman struggling to live in the United States—in what Gurira considers a celebration of "the African expression on American soil."[4][14][15]

In June 2013, Gurira won the Jean-Claude Gahd Dam award at the 2013 Guys Choice Awards.[16]

Her play Familiar, inspired by her mother's family, was scheduled to open in late January 2015. The play, written by Gurira and directed by Rebecca Taichman, focuses on the conflict that arises when a first-generation American bride-to-be insists on observing a traditional Zimbabwean wedding ritual.[17] "We don't often see stories of current first generation Americans - children whose parents speak differently, perhaps completely different languages, whose identity is complex and multinanational. I believe that cultural specificity in storytelling can reveal to us how universally familiar we all are," Gurira said about the play.[17]

On her dual careers: “I love writing for other actors, women of African descent and people who are generally underrepresented,” she said. “I love seeing that on the stage, being able to step out and see an actress who I know has amazing chops but has never been able to show them, seeing her get an opportunity to do that…. At the same time as an actor I love the fact that I can enact other people’s vision.”[2]

On Zimbabwe: "Those formative years in forming my world perspective, my understanding of Zimbabwean people, forming my understanding of my own heritage, the post-colonial experience, the neocolonial experience, how we navigate the world as people of African descent and also living here and understanding it from that perspective, definitely enriched who I am. And I’m constantly thinking about and negotiating how to bridge the distance between the African and the American and how to connect them. That’s my sort of thing, which is why I try to bring African stories to the American stage but in ways that are accessible. I want that connection to be felt."

Gurira is a Christian.[1] She currently lives in Los Angeles.[18] Gurira speaks four languages: French, Shona, basic Xhosa and English.[1] She has taught playwriting and acting in Liberia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.[1]

Gurira on her identity: "I call myself Zimerican. I was born in the Midwest to Zimbabwean parents."[5]

Gurira is not a fan of horror movies, surprisingly, because she does not enjoy being scared.[20] Her favorite TV shows include Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, Breaking Bad and Modern Family.[20] Gurira is also a fan of dogs, saying, "My first pet was a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix named Ace. She loved to chase cars — and thus her demise. My new rescue dog is just a 15-pound gangsta."[20] Gurira regularly spends time in New York City, stating, "New York will always be my city. I go to this hole-in-the-wall place called Cafe Himalaya for astounding Tibetan food."[20]

Gurira maintains an active lifestyle to keep physically fit. In a 2015 interview with Self, she stated, "Taking care of my body, knowing I’ll never get another, is one of my top priorities, and I do what I need to do to get there. I scream through it. Or I yell, ‘C’mon, Gurira!’ It’s hard-core, but I dislike the idea of ever being a quitter. I like to be a finisher. I get really pushed by that. I don’t want to feel like I’ve half-assed anything. At the end of the day, it’s about knowing I gave it all I could give.”[21]

When asked about her musical tastes, Gurira said, "I’m madly in love with the gospel singer Tasha Cobbs and I’m also a big Justin Timberlake fan. That’s like my boy."[22]

Gurira is friends with actress Uzo Aduba, who is also an ambassador for Gurira's organization Almasi Arts Alliance.[23]